The Several Plausible Causes Of Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

Beekeepers have always suffered losses of their honey bees but in the old times those losses were slow and the beekeeper was always able to find the cause, usually a bacteria, mite or some other pathogen and take helpful action. Not so with colony collapse disorder, (sometimes called colony collapse syndrome or colony collapse disease). With colony collapse syndrome more bees are dwindling faster with no prominent reason and because only the queen and a few workers are left alive the colony dies.

The vanishing bees is still a mystery. As yet there has been no firm evidence to point to any one cause for their demise. This has led to the premise that there is more than one cause to colony collapse disorder (CCD). Plausible causes are:

Genetically modified crops

An investigation carried out by a beekeeper, John McDonald, seems to suggest that genetically modified crops could be the cause of colony collapse syndrome. He placed eight bee colonies in an area where the honey bees would have no contact with genetically modified crops and an equal number of honey bee hives on farms that grew genetically modified crops. At the end of the season in October the results of the honey collecting of both sets of honey bees was examined. The results between the two sets of honey bee colonies were very distinctive.

The eight non-GMO bee colonies produced 150 pounds of honey, per hive, in the over-wintering brood supers. Plus, between them, the eight colonies produced 200 pounds of extra honey. The farm honey bees, on the other hand, had produced no extra honey and had not even packed the over-wintering brood supers. These farm bees will require feeding in order to come through the winter.

Pesticides

The pesticide believed to be the main culprit in causing colony collapse disease is nicotine-based Clothianidin, an insecticide in the neonicotinoid family. In Germany investigators found that 99 percent of dead bees had high levels of Clothianidin in their bodies. As a result the seven pesticides in the neonicotinoid family have been provisionally banned.

In the US imidacloprid seems to be the pesticide causing the most colony collapse disorder. For example in North Dakota one third of colonies died after imidacloprid was used on oil seed rape.

Cell phones

Is the electromagnetic radiation given off by cell phones interfering with the honey bee's navigating system thus preventing the honey bees from finding-out their way back to the hive. Some research carried out by Dr Jochen Kuhn shows that honeybees do not like going back to their hives when a cell phone is located near the hive. If bees are trying to keep clear of mobile phone radiation then this could account for why they are getting lost and unable to find their way home.

Food

Honey bees normally use natural material like pollen, sap, nectar, or other botanical materials, for conversion into honey. When beekeepers take away this honey, which the honey bees would normally consume over winter, and replace it with High Fructose Corn Syrup a natural raw sustenance is being replaced with a highly processed dead foodstuff. High Fructose Corn Syrup is lacking in the many minerals and vitamins found in honey so the bees are forced to eat inferior food which results in their poor health and damaged immune systems.

So what is the cause of bee colony collapse disorder. Probably a combination of all of the above though GMOs, and the neonicotinoid pesticides, seem to be the main factors which has caused the dramatic increase in bees disappearing.

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